Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva welcomed Uruguay's President-elect Yamandú Orsi on Friday at the Planalto Palace to discuss the possible Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and the European Union (EU) as well as other issues.
France's Parliament was unusually united this week in rejecting the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), thus yielding to protests from local farmers who fear unfair competition. The Senate gave its thumbs down Thursday, just one day after the Lower House did the same by 484 votes against 70.
Uruguay's President-elect Yamandú Orsi is scheduled to meet Friday in Brasilia with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to discuss the future relationship between both countries after the Broad Front's (Frente Amplio - FA) candidate is inaugurated on March 1. Orsi defeated Álvaro Delgado of the ruling Multicolor coalition in the Nov. 24 runoff and chose Brazil as his first destination abroad to launch his administration's diplomatic agenda.
Brazil's Lower House Speaker Arthur Lira spoke Monday against Europe's protectionism, particularly that of France, and announced that a bill would be voted on this week providing for economic reciprocity. If approved, the Brazilian government would be prevented from signing any international agreements with clauses restricting the import of Brazilian products unless the signatory countries adopt equivalent environmental protection measures.
Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard announced this week that his company would not be selling meat imported from the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) in a move to prevent the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union from pulling through. France's largest supermarket planned on suspending meat imports from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay “in solidarity with the agricultural sector.”
Argentina's Economy Minister Luis Toto Caputo and his Brazilian Energy Counterpart Alexandre Silveira signed Monday on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro an agreement whereby gas from Vaca Muerta will be pumped starting next year, reaching 30 million cubic meters per day as from 2030, which is the same volume that South America's largest country used to buy from Bolivia.
French President Emmanuel Macron told his Argentine counterpart Javier Milei once again during their meeting Sunday at Casa Rosada that his country would not sign the European Union (EU)-Southern Common Market (Mercosur) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) “as is.”
France will not be signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), the Russian news service Sputnik reported Thursday. In fact, Paris will do its utmost to block it.
French Agriculture minister, Annie Genevard has declared to her country’s media that Paris is trying to convince “maximum number of countries”, such as Belgium, Bulgaria, Austria, Ireland and “even maybe Italy” to set up a veto system to impede the signing of a trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, the South American trade group.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) foresaw this week in its its annual Latin America and the Caribbean International Trade Outlook that regional exports of goods would bounce back in 2024 after last year's 1% contraction while service exports will complete their fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth.